We have been using it for one year now. It is pretty quick to implement. We only spend 1015 minute per day on it. With smaller children I would choose shorter Scriptures which would be even faster to go over. We only do Monday to Fridays, also, since our weekends can be crazy.

We do phonics instruction for roughly 3 years. Typically I have begun with Phonics Pathways at around 4 1/2 - 5 years of age. It has taken about 18 months for each of my children to finish the book (we always finish the book). About halfway through the book we begin ETC with book 1 and continue through book 6. My kids usually whiz through them, because it is all review. But it helps to solidify the concepts.

We use the Simply Charlotte Mason Scripture Memory system to memorize as a family. I am much slower than the children, but they go easy on me. The constant review is very helpful for all of us.

1000 Good Books List This one is my favorite.

Phonics Pathways SOTW (I've taught this for 7 consecutive years!) FLL Classical Writing IEW's Poetry memorization Singapore Primary Maths Teaching Company courses (High school American history, Early & Late Middle Ages)

AWANA Singapore 2B/3A Miquon Blue & Green FLL 2 Handwriting, By George Vol. 1 & 2 ETC 5 & 6 Song School Latin TOG Year 4 Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy IEW's Poetry Memorization

My ds finished 6B last August. We spent the fall doing LOF Fractions and Decimals & Percents. He is now working through Dolciani Pre-Algebra. This summer he will take the Art of Problem Solving Algebra course online and then begin NEM in September. My plan is to just continue on with NEM but also use AoPS courses, LOF, and texts such as Dolciani to fill in the cracks. We school year round so this is pretty easy for us to do without it getting overwhelming.

independent

Phonics Pathways - cheap, straightforward, thorough, gets the job done.

The models used in Aesop A (and most of B, for that matter) are quite short. Even when my kids are pokey writing their rough draft, it has never taken more than about 30 minutes, tops.

You have the flexibility to decide if you want to spend a year each on A & B or to do both in a year. I've always done both in one year - but we all enjoy writing around here, so we don't mind spending more time on it.

Yes, 4 day a week. I find that there are times we need to spend more time, but the average definitely falls in that range. Aesop A is a very gentle intro. All of my kids have had at least 3 years of grammar before beginning Aesop, so we can zoom through the grammar potion pretty quickly since it is all review. As far as the writing portion, I would say the rough draft writing day (day 2) takes the longest - maybe 20 minutes. Days 1, 3, + 4 (outlining, editing, and final draft) take 10-15 minutes. Much of that my children have done independently. Obviously the editing portion is done together while we discuss ways to improve the writing. Now, the time involved has always increased dramatically when moving into Homer. For instance, my 11 year old and I spent almost 90 minutes on writing today. She is at the tail end of Homer B. But Aesop has always been pretty quick around here. HTH,

This is what we do, as well. I also take 3 week's worth of history & science books out at once so that I do not HAVE to go back.

I find it takes anywhere from 20 minutes to 45 minutes, depending on the day and the attitude of the student :-)

My recommendation would be Hartford. We lived just outside the city on 2 acres. Loved it. And we knew quite a number of actuaries since Aetna, Cigna, The Hartford, etc. all have huge offices there. You are within easy driving distance to NYC and Boston and very few people there ever actually dig clams. :D Now we live in L.A. It makes Hartford, CT look like a cheap place to live.

Sourdough bread & grill - tastes like a chocolate croissant!

The Dick Van Dyke Show

Yes, I own this book and do enjoy using it as a resource. I implemented a lot of his recommendations when my oldest were younger (and I had a lot more time on my hands!) There are a lot of wonderful recommendations for tying subjects and thoughts together, as the subtitle would suggest. I think the premise of the book is wonderful - it just became harder to read and implement as I had more school-aged children. Since there are no lesson plans per se, it requires quite a bit of time for me to read, outline, and create lesson plans based on the text. Hence, I don't use it as much now that I have older/more kids to school and less time for planning. It's definitely worth a read in my opinion.

TOG Year 4 NEM 1 / Art of Problem Solving Algebra I CW Chreia w/ Harvey's Grammar finish Apologia General Science, begin Physical Science Art of Argument Latin for the New Millennium Mounce's Greek IEW's Poetry Scripture Memorization fencing piano

Timely question, as I've been wondering the same thing recently. There has to be a natural way to do it, as I can never remember seeing someone with half brown, half white hair.:tongue_smilie:

For the big events we do cake. I have a great picture of my then five year old sitting happily in front of a cake with a big "100" on it - he had just finished page 100 in Phonics Pathways :-) For just finishing workbooks we don't do too much - usually a High Five and then the rights to toss it in the garbage can. With four school aged kids someone is always finishing something, so I guess the shine has worn off a bit.

Well, I definitely cannot "accept that your house will be messy" - too much of my Type A Mama in me. We have morning and evening chore time here. This time is invaluable for maintaining my home. I see that you only have one who can really be helpful at chore time, but he can certainly do a lot in 2 daily 20 minute bursts. Work along side your son with a list of what you would like to accomplish during this time (your son can sweep and you can follow with the mop, or he can tackle one job while you clean toilets, wash windows, etc.) My home is not spotless, but it is certainly neat and tidy. We also have a stair basket where I toss thing that I find on the floor throughout the day. At the end of each day my 9 year old puts everything she finds in the basket away. I set aside my Saturdays for the big work - deep cleaning, filing, bills, cleaning out closets, etc. I try to go into each Saturday with a specific list of what needs to be done. HTH,

You know, we have always used the 4 1/2 book immediately after 4. It's the only 1/2 book we've used, but all 4 of my kids have needed the extra practice w/ the syllabification rules. I guess it just seemed natural to me to nail down the concepts before moving on.

We have done this. Here are some things I remember: *handmade frilly invitations *bring your favorite doll *come dressed up *we had a dress-up box with gloves, hats, and beads - everyone got dressed up before we ate *heart-shaped finger sandwiches (I just did cream cheese/strawberry jam and turkey/cucumber) *lots of fruit *pretty cupcakes and petit-fours for dessert *each child had a small pretty frame as a place card w/ their name in it. During the party I took pictures of my daughters with each of their guests. Then I printed them off quick and sent them home with the picture in the frame as a party favor. We had lots of fun!

Each of my kids gets a book that will reinforce the Biblical teaching they get at home and church. That's all.